


hey bulldog.

by tornasunder



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornasunder/pseuds/tornasunder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the one where zayn and liam meet at a dog park.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hey bulldog.

**Author's Note:**

> me: just imagine for a sec  
> hatchi and loki playdates  
> [detectivemills](http://archiveofourown.org/users/detectivemills/works): no stop!!!  
> normal ppl au where they meet at the dog park tho??
> 
> remember the day we found out about loki? that conversation occurred and then i wrote this fic and have been sitting on it ever since.

Zayn sees six am for two reasons: one, he was out all night partying and is just going to bed, or two, he was up all night in a fit of creativity and has artwork to show for it.

So the six am thing happens kind of a lot, and his sleep schedule is horribly fucked.

Normally after these all nighters, Zayn crashes, and doesn’t wake up til past noon. Or six pm, whichever.

Assuming Hatchi stays quiet.

It’s closing in on six, now, and Hatchi won’t shut up.

“We can’t have another noise complaint,” Zayn tells Hatchi, who ignores him, keeps barking as he heads toward the front door. “Fine,” Zayn agrees, “I’ll take you to the dog park. And then you have to be quiet.”

Zayn is splattered in paint, his hair is a mess from running his hands through it one too many times while considering the canvas, and his shirt has holes.

It’s six am. Zayn does not care.

He manages not to care right up until Hatchi starts running around in figure eights, and a larger dog comes bounding toward it, mouth hanging open, tongue wagging.

"No, stop!! Stop!! Please!!" a very broad shouldered someone yells after the dog (and it's not his fault that's the first thing he notices, he's wearing a baseball tee for fucks sake). "I'm so sorry," he says as he dives onto his knees in an attempt to corral his dog into his chest.

"It's okay," Zayn says, because it is, Hatchi isn't scared of the larger dog at all, happily running around him in a circle. "Hatchi's scrappy, he can take care of himself."

“Sorry. Loki's just a puppy, he's still very excitable."

As if on cue, the dog bursts forth from his arms and tackles Hatchi, and they start rolling around together.

"It's fine," and Zayn shrugs, because he doesn't know what else to say, and also he's a little distracted because this guy is still on his knees, and it's giving Zayn ideas. A lot of ideas.

The other dog takes off, so broad shoulders smiles and follows him, and wait, his brain catches up, _loki's just a puppy_ , fuck fuck, which means his dog is named Loki and Zayn's just a little bit too late, because they're already walking away. Fuck.

"Fuck," is how Zayn ends the story to Niall, several hours later, in the pub.

"Right, let me get another round, we'll figure this out, yeah?" Niall says, and he's trying not to laugh, so Zayn will take it.

Niall comes back with the pints and a pen between his teeth. Zayn's eyebrow raises and Niall's raises back. "We're going to make a plan on a napkin. Obviously."

"Obviously," Zayn mimics Niall, because that way he won't say something stupid and fond instead.

"Wait. Why do we need a plan? Ask him out the next time you see him. Just do your thing, you know, with your face." Niall attempts a weird pout thing while squinting that Zayn definitely does not do.

 

 

Hatchi normally goes to the dog park a couple times a week. The next time he goes, broad shouldered (and how did he not even get a name? Zayn is much better than this, normally) and Loki aren't there.

Or the next time.

Or the next time.

"Fuck," is how Zayn ends the story to Niall again, except this time Niall doesn't hold back his laughter.

"Get up before noon, you lazy fuck, go then."

"Fuck off," Zayn says, and means it.

Means it until it's three days later and it's six am and he can't fucking sleep and Hatchi is whining by his feet.

When he gets to the corner of the park, he lets Hatchi off the leash, and he takes off, barking happily.

What Zayn doesn't expect is for another dog to bark back.

He walks further into the park and tries to tell himself that it won't be Loki, and his broad shouldered owner, because that is not how real life works, but maybe -

\- it's not.

It's a golden retriever, and Zayn is not disappointed, okay, he's not, because Niall does have a point. If Zayn wants to pull, it's not difficult. An attractive guy at the dog park should not be a factor.

Zayn pulls out his phone and starts texting Niall things like: what time is it oh i know it's six because i'm awake i got up before noon pretty sure that means you should pay up lost some sort of implied bet ahaha :)

He's just adding an x when he feels something collide into his legs, too tall and heavy to be Hatchi.

It's Loki.

Zayn scratches behind his ears, waits for his owner to appear.

He does, and if Zayn thought the baseball tee was bad, this is infinitely worse. He's not wearing a shirt at all.

"Hi again!" he sounds so cheerful, and Zayn should respond, but it's hard because shoulders and abs and arms and -

his face, Zayn manages to look back up at his face, and say, "Zayn. I mean. Hi. I'm Zayn."

"Liam," he says, just as his watch beeps. Liam looks down at it with a frown. "I have to go if I'm going to finish my run in time, but I'll see you around, yeah?"

Zayn smiles and wonders if looking through his lashes right now is appropriate at this time of day, and does it anyway, even though Liam seems to be a bit oblivious to it.

Liam jogs away, Loki running beside him, and as Zayn is admiring the muscles in Liam's back it occurs to him that fuck, he forgot to ask about Loki's name, again.

 

 

Zayn, under no circumstances, sees six am on the off chance of going to a dog park to see some guy that happened to name his dog after a comic book character.

That is what he reminds himself every time he goes to the dog park in the afternoon and/or evening and Liam is not there.

One morning, he's staring at six am, after an all night painting binge, and fuck, fuck it, he's going to go the park.

Hatchi's ecstatic, and Zayn manages to keep up the pretense that he's doing this for Hatchi's benefit, all the way up until they get to the park and Liam is shirtless, again, doing lunges down the length of the field.

Liam spots him, or Hatchi, and starts waving.

Zayn waves back.

Liam keeps lunging.

Zayn pulls a ball out of his back pocket, sits down on the ground, and starts playing fetch with Hatchi.

Liam does start lunging toward him, eventually gets close enough to intercept Hatchi's ball, tosses it in a high arc and Zayn is pretty sure Hatchi's tail is going to wag off.

Liam collapses down onto the ground next to him, throws the ball for Hatchi again, and puts his shirt on. Zayn wants to protest. He lights a cigarette instead.

Loki comes bounding out of nowhere, hops onto Liam's lap, looks at Zayn, and hops onto his.

"Sorry?" Liam says, leaning back on his elbows, stretching his impossibly long legs. Zayn thinks that Liam is quite possibly the only person who can make grey joggers look attractive.

"You don't have to keep apologizing to me," Zayn says, and Liam smiles spectacularly. Zayn's hand twitches, he wants to be able to try and draw that smile, settles for scratching the errant paint on his wrist.

"Are you an artist?" Liam asks, in between Loki's happy barks, because Hatchi is chasing him now.

"No," Zayn says quickly, and it's sharp and Liam's eyes go wide and Zayn momentarily gets distracted by how brown they are. Can't draw him in charcoal, then. Has to be a proper color sketch. Zayn softens his tone. "I don't - it's complicated, yeah?"

There’s something about Liam’s face, it seems so open, and it seems so honest, and it just feels like - like Zayn could tell him things, like how he’s scared of being a starving artist, and yet how it also feels inevitable. It scares the fuck out of him.

Liam's watch beeps like the other day, and he frowns down at it exactly the same way. "I'm off then," Liam nods as he stands up and starts jogging off, Loki obediently following behind him.

“I love Loki's name!" Zayn calls, to Liam's retreating back, because he didn't want to forget again. Fuck.

 

 

_i love loki's name_ keeps rattling around in his head for the next couple days.

Niall presses the issue, keeps texting him every morning at six with things like: so are you at the park yet is he wearing a shirt today have you come up with actual words maybe you should make some coffee first have you styled your hair just to go see him at the park??

Zayn ignores them all.

Until one day he accidentally falls asleep at like 6 pm, so when 6 am comes, he's awake.

Zayn very purposely does not make coffee or style his hair. (Well, okay, maybe a little wax.)

When he gets to the park, he spots Loki immediately, playing with a frisbee. Zayn's eyes follow Loki, and instead of seeing Liam, there's someone tall with a lot of curls.

Maybe it's not Loki? Zayn pretends for a moment that the breed is common.

Hatchi starts nudging Zayn's leg with his nose, to prod Zayn into letting him off his leash.

It's six in the morning, Zayn reminds himself. This must be Liam's boyfriend, because who else takes care of your dog at six in the morning?

Zayn starts texting Niall: liam’s boyfriend is at the park he’s pretty fit actually if you like ridiculous curls and he’s tall and fuck he’s smiling he has dimples ugh he’s probably naturally a morning person who voluntarily gets up early

Zayn plays fetch with Hatchi, watches Loki and curls out of the corner of his eye. He's not paying attention, not really, up until some other boy appears and greets curls with a good morning snog.

Which - what? Zayn debates about texting Niall enquiring about the probability of Liam having two boyfriends.

Hatchi eventually gets bored of playing fetch and races toward Loki.

Zayn decides it's definitely time to go, calls Hatchi twice, but he doesn't come, trying to jump on Loki's back, or something, so Zayn walks over.

"They seem to be friends," curls says, arm possessively around the other boy's waist.

"Yeah," Zayn says, and isn't going to say anything else, he's going to clip the leash on, and they are going to walk away, and Zayn is never waking up early ever again.

"I'm Harry," curls says, "And this is Louis."

Zayn says his name and the two exchange a glance. Zayn ignores them, because he doesn’t care, he does not, and crouches down to place Hatchi’s leash.

“Liam’s talked about you. Well, more your tattoos, really,” Louis says and Harry throws his head back and laughs like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.

"Yeah?" Zayn says, but it's covered up by Hatchi barking.

Zayn has to drag Hatchi away. Hatchi whines the rest of the way home.

 

 

Zayn can't sleep. Zayn's been in bed for hours and he can't sleep. Six am blinks at him, angry and red, and Zayn doesn't even try and come up with an excuse for himself.

He puts on a shirt that isn't stained with paint and he styles his hair and Niall's laughing in the back of his head but whatever, whatever, fuck Niall.

Zayn doesn't even try and pretend that he's not relieved that Liam's there instead of Harry or Louis.

Liam's wearing his shirt today, which is sad.

"Hey," Zayn says, because he can do this. He hasn’t had to actually _try_ to get someone in a long time, but something about Liam makes him think that this might be worth it. Zayn covers his zap! tattoo, because it feels glaring, makes his six am charade feel obvious.

"I heard you met my friends?" Liam says, and oh fuck, maybe Zayn should have actually tried to talk to them.

"Yeah. I was um, surprised to see them," Zayn admits. "I don't know if any of my mates would voluntarily take my dog this early."

"Harry and Louis are the _best_ ," Liam says, and normally Zayn would scoff at something like that, except Liam looks so earnest that Zayn refrains.

"They mentioned you liked my tattoos."

Liam goes from looking earnest to downright bashful and Zayn did not know people actually ever looked bashful, but Liam is managing.

"Oh. They were not supposed to do that."

"Liam. Is liking my tattoos code for you thinking I'm fit?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Zayn fights a grin and fails. There's something about Liam that disarms his carefully cultivated exterior, makes him feel like it’s okay to let the nerd out instead.

"Yeah, maybe, me too."

"You should give me your number. So we can have a not six am date."

"A not six am date," Zayn echoes. "I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
